Dredge bucket



April 2, 1940. H. M. BIRD 2,195,404

mmnsn sucxm Filed April 19, 193'! 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. T HOBART M 5/20 A TTORNEYS.

April 2, 1940. BIRD 2,195,404

DREDGE BUCKET Filed April 19, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JYOBART M BIB 0 A TTORNEYS.

, Patented Apr. 2, 1940 This invention-relates to thedredge bucket art, and in; particular to'those usedinplacer min ins. where a series of such buckets are joined-t g-ethe'rto forin an endless chain suspended on the, l v v ladder of'the dredge or other Inachine MOref cof the-adapter and the little lip on bucketsof the ,5

wear capacity of approximately' three .inches, the minimumbncket capacity will not drop in the digging operations to the extent where awear of five to ten inches is reqtiiredbe- "fore change.

specifically this invention relatesto buckets removable lips and an adapter'therefor,

Heretoforef the chedging practice has been to operate alirie of buckets, equipped with a se of 10;,rem0vable lips, having a wear content of fro five to ten'inches, for as long atime' as 'possib depending 9 i t ear onthe1'ips1.f*

Usuallygwhen the lips-were worn do' wnflto' the: .point where'they were to be discarded, the" enQ- tire operatiOnsYwereshut down to p-rbvidean opportunity for changing lips on the entirebucket chain. At this time, ea'ch of thetwentyto sixty rivets holding each 'jofi the large" lips in place on the bucket had to betrimjmje'd off with a l cutting torch and then again quite as'm'any 'rivets were required to hold the n'ew lips inplace for] the next digging operation. when thi'sis mul tiplied by the number of buckets inthe' chain; which normally contains frornffifty' toeighty'i the 26 tremendous effort involved becomes f 'o'byious' as well as the necessity for large' andTe'XpensiVe equipment for doing the work' o'nthe' dredging location; no matter Wherefitfriiightb} orf-howf remote. It is apparent that the'time r-equired'to' 30 do this job involves an interruption of'pr'oduc tion-andthe exp'en'se incurred increases the operating costs byjust that much It is an object of thisinvention' to provide an J adapter for a bucket now in use in dredge operations of this kind in order to enable operators to use a smaller lip and: obtain the many advantages which are found inits use. Among the advantages of the'little lip, which is comparatively smaller in size and, much less in weight, is it'sifa-r cility in being put on and taken 01f, and the fact I,

' that it requires very few bolts or rivets to hold it in place, thus enabling the operator, if he so desires, to use methods which will entirely eliminate the necessity for periodic shut-downs.

advantage may be taken by using the buckets now in operation-with the aid of the adapter of the present invention, is the saving in scrap ,metal usuallyaccompanying the discard of worn lips. It iscommon in the use of large lips on' a dredge'buckets, even after they have served their Y A further object of this invention is the prosmall liphas only thirty to forty percent scrap,

depending on thenature of the digging.

Still another advantage is the increased average bucket capacity gained by'the employment prior practice. Obviously, as the little'lip has a Further, the use of small lips gives'tothe'buck ets of' jthe' practice heretofore, by means of" the I adapter, the capability of-being] used inthe newer commercial methodswhich"answer'three of the 1'5 gmain 'objectives of the industry by providing a' substantially constant bucket capacity, alower'ing' of the percentage of scrap involved and"a quick easychang'e from worn lipsfto new onest" also, what may be considered a more important ad- 1 vantage, a wholly different technique of dredge I generationv whereby'both new and Wornv lips may be used in the same operating bucket linein' ac- 'cordance with a plan'for maintaining a sub tattially constant bucket capacity.

vision of an adapter for, rejuvenating buckets of theold' pra ctice ,,which issimple in construction and'use san'd economical in' cost. I I

- This. invention contemplates such other, ad-'-3(j vantages, capabilities and" benefits as may be shown]. as the description proceeds and as. are

- inherently possessed thereby. In the accomplish- -ment of these objects, there is used by way of example only the construction shown inpreferred form in the drawings. Similar parts are designated, by the same reference characters. in the several views.

. Referring now to the drawings:

. r Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the typical bucket 40 of conventional design having installed thereupon an'adapter and a lip incorporating the principles of my invention. 1 f Fig. 2 is a fragmentary transverse section" taken on theline 2-2 of Fig. l and looking in Another advantage of the little lip of which which is commonlys'pheroidalin shape,is mounted at the back on a link 18, which, when joined to the next buckets and so on, makes the endless so I mediate skirt 3| which seats on the upper portion l2 of the bucket and the shear pad H, and on the external face of the bucket, a portion 3Ia of skirt 3!; at either side seats against the internal face of the bucket, Ill. The adapter 30is held securely on the bucket by rivets 15a, or anyother I The adapter 30 is provided with holes 30a which register with the holes in the:

suitable means;

bucketjlil. Once in place, the adapter need not ordinarily be removed during the life of the bucket to which it is attached, but, of course may be so removed if desired. Figs. 4 and 5 showthe. adapter in more detail and separated fromthe' structures to which it is meant to attach.

tice heretofore by means of the adapter.

adapter in an-outside-inside manner similar to the seating of the adapter on the rim of the conventional bucket. The lip I! is constructed with an intermediate flange I9 which is adapted vto seat on the external face of the adapter 39 at the front portion thereof with a complementary flange 32, and also with flanges 2l which. are adapted to seaton the internal face of the adapter 3|] at the sides thereof, with complementary flanges 33,- Further, the lip I? may have'constructed integral with the intermediate flange I9,

a tongue portion 25 :adapted to seat in a corre-' spondingly shaped depression in the front of the face of the adapter, 30. The provision, of .this

tongue portion secures fastening means of the lip to the adapter on the bucket at the front, and, y

In addition, the small lip I1 is fastened directly to the bucket III. The extremities 29 of the lip are provided with openings 21 which register with corresponding openings'in the bucket and nuts and bolts 28 hold it securely to the bucket. Usually a pair on each side suffices.

It is believed that the manner of using the adapter is apparent from the foregoing descrip-- tion, but it is to be remembered that the little lip I! is not a repair piece and is not a patch for lip. The adapter is not a lip but rather makes a possible the use and advantages of the little lip on buckets of the practiceheretofore without great economic loss.

' IcIaim:

J combination with a bucket an adapter which seats on said. bucket in an inside-outside manner and is removably attached thereto, and a comparatively small removable lip which seats 'on said Also in Figs. 1 and 2, the little'lip is shown in operative position on a bucket typical of the prac It will be observed that thelip H is short as compared to lips known in the art, and is seated on the combination with a dredge bucket, an adapter which seats on the rim of said bucket "in an adapter in an inside-outside manner and is separately detachably secured both to the adapter and I to the bucket, said lip being centrally secured to said'adapter and terminally to said bucket. 2. A dredge bucket assembly comprising in inside-outside manner and is removably secured thereto and a comparatively small complete adapter in an inside-outside manner and ,is

keyed to said adapter andis removably attached separately to'both said bucket and said adapter, said lip. being centrally secured to said adapter and terminally secured to said bucket.

larger lips, but rather a complete and individual 3. In combination, a dredge bucket, an adapter comprising a member adapted to be seated on the rim of'said bucket in an inside-outside manher and provided with flanges adapted toseat and ,hold aremovable lip, and a comparatively small'removable lip. adapted to be removably se cured at the front to said adapter and at the ex-. tremitiesto the said bucket. I I y,

4. A- fdredge bucket assembly comprising in combinationwith a dredge bucket, anadapter. and a comparatively small removable lip attached separately both to the adapter and to the bucket,

said, lip being centrally riveted to said adapter and terminally riveted to said bucket.

' HOBART M. BIRD, 

